The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal. Post here and support each other (PART 2)

[ShawnK 76]

52 minutes ago, APRIL2023 said:

Thank you for sharing this. Probably the only place that I’ve read so far that explained fully what exactly happened with the whole 221g/AP/DS5535 bullshit. 
 

I more I read, the more angry I am. *vent alert*. I asked the CO what have triggered AP and he literally did a 🤷🏼 as he thought that my case was a straight forward case. #######

 

question - was fingerprint taken at the interview? I don’t recall mine being taken. By the CO or would it be with the first clerk you talk to who collected the documents?

To answer your question - yes, your fingerprints must have been taken by the first officer, the one that checks your documents. You then sit back down and get called up again for the actual interview. That's how Montreal does it.

 

Bull*** indeed,  seriously, this is  monstrous level bureaucracy. Utterly insane, filling out endless forms for nothing. 

 

 

 

 

[Pearljamm 40]

On 1/20/2024 at 11:34 AM, APRIL2023 said:

Got an unsolicited status updated on Thursday. Hopefully that’s a good sign. It has been a rollercoaster of 10 months waiting. 
 

I emailed my ds5535 info in after not hearing from them for three weeks post interview. I followed up to confirm receipt and they responded yes and provided date when info was entered into their system. 
 

For peeps who asked about emailing congressman for help. I tried before, congress, senate and even White House. No help. Congresswoman was a waste of time, her representative made it sound like they can help to influence process but literally ghosted on us after 4 months. We were referred to reps in DoS by the White House and got a “personalized” letter response… but pretty much saying nothing can be done. 
 

For those who received extension request after filing WOM, how much extra do lawyers charge? I inquired Goldstein but they cannot give me a straight answer. 

 

Same here, I got an unsolicited status update on friday! and we both had our interview around April, I rather not get my hopes up but any April received unsolicited status update on CEAC?

[Inveigh 69]

16 hours ago, Pearljamm said:

Same here, I got an unsolicited status update on friday! and we both had our interview around April, I rather not get my hopes up but any April received unsolicited status update on CEAC?

Good to see the March/April 2023 interviews are finally getting some love. As an May 2023 Interviewee, this gives me hope.

Stay strong Montreal 🙏

Edited January 22 by Inveigh

[ak47 26]

16 hours ago, Pearljamm said:

Same here, I got an unsolicited status update on friday! and we both had our interview around April, I rather not get my hopes up but any April received unsolicited status update on CEAC?

Was your interview in the end of March or April ?

 

We had ours in March but did not receive any update...

[Inveigh 69]

29 minutes ago, ak47 said:

Was your interview in the end of March or April ?

 

We had ours in March but did not receive any update...

Ours was in Early May' 23. You can see my timeline on my page but this thread is about Montreal and I dont want to derail and have my comment removed. I do have a forum for 5535 on my page that does have a ton of useful tips for anyone that needs it though for any country. 

[ak47 26]

55 minutes ago, Inveigh said:

Ours was in Early May' 23. You can see my timeline on my page but this thread is about Montreal and I dont want to derail and have my comment removed. I do have a forum for 5535 on my page that does have a ton of useful tips for anyone that needs it though for any country. 

Your country of embassy shows as Iran so the status updates may not apply to Montreal Applicants..

[Daft_Cat 136]

21 hours ago, EternalWait said:

1- "Among the revelations from the declaration, only 37 State Department analysts are responsible for the national security vetting of DS-5535 responses, causing a backlog to explode. Currently, 66,000 visa applicants are stuck in administrative processing."

Hope fading. 

 

Quote

3- "generally, security vetting is concluded in 75 percent of visa cases requiring additional security vetting in approximately 120 days. Security vetting is concluded in over 90 percent of all cases requiring additional security vetting in less than 24 months."

 

That 75% figure feels off. Maybe it's dated. 

[Superluminal 74]

3 minutes ago, Daft_Cat said:

Hope fading. 

 

 

That 75% figure feels off. Maybe it's dated. 

The group in here is a biased sample set as people who get put in AP and are out "quickly" are less likely to join a forum and figure out what's going on.

 

It does look like a few people have gotten unsolicited updates last week which may mean things are starting to get moving. I for one have not gotten an update but my interview date was the end of April. 

[Daft_Cat 136]

1 hour ago, Superluminal said:

The group in here is a biased sample set as people who get put in AP and are out "quickly" are less likely to join a forum and figure out what's going on.

 

It does look like a few people have gotten unsolicited updates last week which may mean things are starting to get moving. I for one have not gotten an update but my interview date was the end of April. 

Yeah - I think there's also a distinction between DS-5535s issued by Montreal vs. other consulates. I can't point to a particular source, but I think Montreal is more broadly seen to be abusing the process and using it as a delay tactic. When I was shopping around for law firms to assist with the WoM, I kept hearing again and again that Montreal is one of the most inefficient, dysfunctional consulates in the world.

In other countries - particularly overseas - I imagine the DS-5535 is used in a way that's similar to an SAO and results in more sensible processing times. Just a theory though.

Edited January 22 by Daft_Cat

[Inveigh 69]

24 minutes ago, Daft_Cat said:

Yeah - I think there's also a distinction between DS-5535s issued by Montreal vs. other consulates. I can't point to a particular source, but I think Montreal is more broadly seen to be abusing the process and using it as a delay tactic. When I was shopping around for law firms to assist with the WoM, I kept hearing again and again that Montreal is one of the most inefficient, dysfunctional consulates in the world.

In other countries - particularly overseas - I imagine the DS-5535 is used in a way that's similar to an SAO and results in more sensible processing times. Just a theory though.

Is there a difference between the two?

[Daft_Cat 136]

1 minute ago, Inveigh said:

Is there a difference between the two?

The only difference I can think of is that the DS-5535 was originally introduced to apply more scrutiny to applicants with certain flags in their profile (specifically tied to certain countries). In Canada, it's being applied seemingly at random and disproportionately compared to other consulates. 

The source from earlier mentioned a backlog of 66k, with 37 advisors tasked with clearing it. But if a disproportionate number of those are coming from Montreal (and I believe other posts in this thread have found evidence of that from various sources), it's possible the Montreal-specific backlog is being cleared at a slower rate so as not to congest the more "legitimate" DS-5535s coming from other consulates. That's just speculation on my part, but something has to be going on with Montreal specifically. 

[ShawnK 76]

The worst I've seen in this dreaded thread (except for the odd rare person in an endless blackhole) is take 12-13 months before sending a medical request. I believe that was users batmanflow and watching paint dry, no updates until they got past 12 months post interview.

 

So hopefully you Feb folks will see something soon, but again, Montreal is awful. 

 

 

[Inveigh 69]

9 minutes ago, ShawnK said:

The worst I've seen in this dreaded thread (except for the odd rare person in an endless blackhole) is take 12-13 months before sending a medical request. I believe that was users batmanflow and watching paint dry, no updates until they got past 12 months post interview.

 

So hopefully you Feb folks will see something soon, but again, Montreal is awful. 

 

 

From what I've seen Montreal Canada and Ankara Turkey seem to be the top 2 contenders for having the most dreadful experiences with AP.

 

Almost 9 months in with my Fiance, and I feel like hope is slowly slipping away from me at times. But I always to try the very hardest to keep my mind clear and believe this confusing process that has led so many of us up to this point is almost over. I cant even begin to fathom how many people we have lost up to this part of AP for without a good cause and so many beautiful relationships that have died-- metaphorically or otherwise. And I just hope we can all help motivate eachother and help eachother get better through this together 

Edited January 22 by Inveigh

[Pearljamm 40]

12 hours ago, ak47 said:

Was your interview in the end of March or April ?

 

We had ours in March but did not receive any update...

My interview was early April 

[Phil_K_IR1 83]

After almost exactly 2.5 months from being given a 221g to submit a CV, we finally got an email from them (as a reply to one of ours asking if they got everything and if there's anything else they need) saying: "We acknowledge receipt of the documents you have provided. This case is currently pending review by a consular officer. As soon as the review is complete, the Visa Unit will advise of the next steps if anything else is needed to complete processing the case. "

 

We assumed that it was a name hit for security clearance, we're wondering if others had similar experiences with a similar reply and if approval is around the corner, or does this mean they haven't even initiated the security check because an officer hadn't reviewed it? 
 

Thank you in advance, this is such a dumb process. Still hoping we won't get a 5535 after it's already been nearly 3 months since our interview (Nov 9, 2023). 

Edited January 23 by Phil_K_IR1